I want to stress one point that I was unable to mention on my last visit. It is this:
We can bear any opposition when we know that the Lord sees us as righteous. We can, though Christ’s imputed righteousness, claim the purity David claimed in verses 3-4. See Ps 7:3-5.
We come to our third study of this Psalm and the the second division, verses 5-9 — AN ASKING FOR GUIDANCE.
- How feeble and helpless we are. “Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not,” verse 5. This is the cry of a child. We are but as children when faced with our enemies. Note ‘in thy paths’. Only safe path. Psalm 119:116-117, 133, Ps 94:18; 1 Sam 2:9; Jer 10:23.
- How ready the Lord is to hear the distressed cry of His people. Verse 5. This is why we pray for the LORD DOES HEAR OUR CRY!
- We should not hesitate to ask for the Lord’s intervention on our behalf. “Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them,” 7. God’s intervention marks out His people as His! The phrase ‘rise up ‘ is the same word as ‘arose’, used of Goliath, 1 Sam 17:48.
- How precious are God’s people! Paul said: “We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things,”
1 Cors 4:13. But not to the Lord. “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,” verse 8.